The Lusty Men (1952)

(On Cable TV, June 2021) Even as countless male leads of classic Hollywood have been forgotten or become undistinguishable from others, Robert Mitchum endures as an icon. His performance in director Nicholas Ray’s The Lusty Men will show you why. Playing a rodeo competitor who decides to retire but ends up partnering with a young man trying to save enough money to buy a house for him and his wife. Matters predictably escalate into full-blown drama, as the life of a rodeo competitor is dangerous, and few of the characters seem able to keep their hands to themselves. (I mean, it’s right there in the title.) Ray directs the film in a more naturalistic fashion than was usual in the 1950s, going for the raw authenticity of its hardscrabble characters. Real rodeo footage is integrated within the film, giving The Lusty Men a patina of authenticity as a modern-day western that now feels like a period piece. Mitchum delivers a good, even great performance here, helped along by the melancholy tone of the script and Ray’s careful directing process. While the result isn’t as flashy as the epic films that Hollywood was producing at the time, The Lusty Men has aged well and remains a high point in both Ray and Mitchum’s careers.